Fujino crossed his arms and quietly watched the two of them.
Time still flew like an arrow, and he sat on the bench just as he did in his memories, seeming to return to his own youth.
Distant, yet not far.
Only, as always, he was just like back then—merely a passerby sitting off to the side to watch the show.
Just a passerby.
"It's almost time!"
"Ran, you can do it!"
Sonoko checked the time on her wrist, cheered Ran on, and then, taking small steps, grabbed an unresponsive Fujino and jumped straight into the bushes.
Conan saw this, lifted his short legs, and followed suit.
Meanwhile Hondo Eisuke, who had come along after school and always seemed like a transparent person, followed after Conan.
The two of them jumped into the bushes with a rustling thump.
And then, they accidentally stepped on a pile of dog shit.
Conan: "..."
Hondo Eisuke: "..."
This incident tells us not to jump blindly into bushes for no good reason.
"Hah..."
Sonoko puffed out breaths, seemingly quite excited and thrilled about the fact that her good best friend was being confessed to for the first time.
Fujino came back to his senses, looked at her before him, and couldn't help but give a deadpan look: "Sonoko, what on earth are you jumping into the bushes for?"
"To hide, of course!"
Sonoko said earnestly: "If the person making the confession discovered that the object of their affection actually brought others along, how awful would that be!"
"Then could we please let go of my hand first?"
"Huh? Oh! Oh!"
Sonoko froze for a moment at those words, then realized she hadn't let go of the hand gripping Fujino's arm and let go with a trace of awkwardness.
At the same time, she